So it turns out that spring is really quite enjoyable when you are not busy sneezing for four months. Who knew? For reasons I don't understand but desperately want to, my cedar tree allergies failed to kick in back in February and I spent February and March in a state of cautious elation, ready for the first sign of sneezing to kick in, but it never did. My hope is that my immune system finally figured out that cedar tree pollen does not actually cause any kind of horrible disease and gave up fighting it.
My later spring allergies did kick in from April but they are always milder and never cause me to actively cheer the concept of world deforestation.
Spring vacation was lovely. I spent a week up in Vanderhoof, hanging out with my parents, my brother, his wife, and the dog (not necessarily in that order.) There was a lot of lounging and eating of mini-eggs and so very much reading. Also did you know that there is an entire channel devoted to house-related shows? How many times can you watch someone redecorate or try to sell their house? (The answer is apparently a lot.)
We went and had an updated family photo done at Wallace's Studio. The last professional one we took was so long ago that Paul still had hair, I hadn't grown my out yet (it was still spiky and bleached), and both Bernie the dog and Sheba the cat were still alive. The last unprofessional one we had taken when we were all together was in Korea, and it is sort of blurry, so apparently mom felt that wasn't good enough. She's gotten all fancy in her old age, it seems.
It turns out I am good at sitting for portraits. Arrange me how you want and tell me to smile and I won't move a muscle until the whole thing is over. If only I was taller and skinnier and prettier I could totally be a model.
Dad kept talking about what a shame it was that we all spent all our time in the living room on our various devices (kindles, phones, iPads, laptops) because apparently he does not remember that back before these things were invented we spent all our time sitting quietly not talking to each other while reading actual paper books.
After about a week of this I spent the last two days catching up with old friends from high school, which was a lot of fun. Then it was off to Vancouver to meet up with more friends and finally, finally go shopping.
I didn't actually buy all that much, but I was going for quality over quantity. I bravely restricted myself to a mere two pairs of Fluevogs but I made mental notes about plenty others for my next trip. How many pairs of $300 shoes does one person really need, anyway? I aim to find out. I suspect the answer will always be "more than I currently have."
I got some nice sensible work pants in vanity sizing. Shopping in Canada is much more soothing to the ego than shopping in Japan, that's for sure. (Side note: the other day I wore my new sensible but stylish black work pants to the high school along with a white buttoned-up shirt and one 16 year old girl described my look as "sexy wear", which after a lot of though I have decided means something that is cute but not pink or beribboned).
But even better than work pants or even Fluevogs are my new jeans. Back in Vanderhoof I was joking that I wanted a pair of yoga pants that were made to look like jeans, and Paul remembered that he'd seen an advertisement for a brand selling just such a thing. So we did a little internet research and found that they were selling some in Vancouver, and of course I just had to go see them. I wasn't expecting to actually buy them, but the manufacturers have done something truly magical: they are jeans that totally look like jeans but have almost the same comfort level as yoga pants, thanks to stretchiness. I mean, I wouldn't wear them to actual yoga class, but if I was just out and about and a spontaneous yoga class broke out, I'd be able to participate with minimal discomfort. I even bought a pair of skinny jeans. I take back every bad thing I ever said about skinny jeans, they are the most marvellously comfortable pair of pants I own that still look good with Fluevogs.
In between spending a truly impressive sum of money, I met up with Kim (well, I stayed at her apartment and slept on her couch and was head butted by her cat until I gave into his adorable fuzzy demands) and Anika (she gave me a bunch of fancy tea and I bought some Girl Guide cookies from her daughter, who was SO HAPPY because now she only had seven boxes to sell and seven was really easy, whereas eight was apparently an almost insurmountable hurdle, and then I ate the entire box in about two days, which is why I only bought one in the first place) and Erika (we went out for beer) and I went over to Salt Spring Island to stay at Cat's cute little country house with dogs and cats and cheese. SSI is a very pretty little place (and there is SO MUCH CHEESE) although I don't think I'd like to live there, since public transportation mostly consists of hitchhiking. To save time I took a seaplane back instead of the ferry, a mode of transportation I highly recommend. I was the only passenger so it was very comfy but I can't imagine being crammed in there with all five seats full. You'd really have to like your fellow passengers.
It had been three and a half years since my last trip to Canada and in that time they'd gone and changed the money AGAIN and gotten rid of pennies altogether.
On a related note, does anyone want some genuine Canadian pennies?
